While I am officially opposed to this mutant Thanksgiving dish, it’s not fair to keep you all from learning how to cook this poultry amalgam, especially since its popularity grows every year. For those of you unfamiliar with the turducken concept, it’s a chicken stuffed inside a duck, which is then stuffed inside a turkey.

What you end up getting is pieces of duck, chicken and turkey with every slice and a wild mix of flavors. While it sounds complicated, a turducken is not difficult to make, but it is a time-consuming endeavor. You are basically preparing three bird dishes at the same time. It’s going to take a little while, and you have to be careful that the turkey doesn’t get too dry.

What you need: 10-pound turkey, 5-pound duck, 3-pound chicken, prepared stuffing

Step 1: Debone the meat. A boned duck will not fit in a turkey unless you have an incredibly small duck, and no one wants that many bones. Debone the chicken, duck and turkey and place them in separate containers. Refrigerate until it’s time to assemble the turducken.

Step 2: Prepare the stuffing. The stuffing is going to be placed between the layers of the meat. Presentation wise, it looks good because you can see the separation of the meats. Also, it helps give your pallet something a little different than a meat taste.

Step 3: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s going to be roasting for a while, so we don’t want the heat too high and dry out the outside of the turkey. Now comes the hard part: stuffing the various poultry products.

Step 4: Take your deboned chicken and put some stuffing in the open cavity. When you are cooking the turducken, you’ll use the stuffing center to determine the internal temperature. If you don’t have a stuffing center, then there will only be air for the thermometer to gauge the temperature. Skewer the chicken cavity shut.

Step 5: Place a small layer of stuffing inside the duck cavity and place the chicken inside the duck. If there is any open space between the chicken and the duck, then fill it with stuffing. Ideally, you will have a layer of stuffing all around the chicken.

Step 6: Repeat the process with the turkey, and once the duck is in the turkey, remove the skewers from the chicken and the duck, but leave the skewer in the turkey. From here on out, it’s just like roasting a turkey. Baste the outside with your preferred butter or herb concoction and stick in a roaster and place it in the oven.

Step 7: It will take about 4–5 hours to cook the turducken. Place a thermometer into the turducken — straight into the stuffing center — and the mutant beast will be done when it hits 165 degrees in the center. Take it out and serve to your waiting guests.

While I have never prepared turducken myself, I have many friends that swear by this delicious dish. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and this super stuffed turkey provides an interesting, if not unorthodox, alternative to the holiday standards.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/gail_thepinkpeppercorn/5147081129

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